Ruckus

Wireless access point set up

from an Audio Everywhere
streaming perspec;ve
Lance Glasser
6 June 2015

Overview
Ruckus access points are a very good choice for
Audio Everywhere systems. Over the next few
pages we go over the set up material that has
worked best for us.
Audio Everywhere is an authorized Ruckus
reseller.
We tend to use the Ruckus APs (access points) in
stand alone mode rather than with their zone
director hardware.
When talking directly with Ruckus, you can tell
them that the applica;on is like one way VoIP.

DONT
Dont Use TKIP encryp;on (severe limit on
number of phones)
Dont use Mesh networking (handles fewer
phones with more latency). If you have to bridge
to someone elses WAN, use an external device
like a WAN over Wi-Fi system from Cradlepoint or
Pepwave
Dont Try to do a so[ware upgrade of the AP
remotely. Instead download the le and do it
locally.

Models
R300, the entry level system we use most
o[en. Can handle 75-150 clients (i.e., smart
phones)
R600, a high-end robust system that can
handle 150-250 clients, or more. 500 clients
might be possible.
R700, R710, etc., top of the line.

Set-up
There are two levels at which one can a`ack
the setup. The rst is using the simple GUI
screens that one sees with the login just
discussed.
The second level is to remotely log into the AP
using ssh and use the Ruckus Command Line
Interface (CLI). This is deep and dangerous
stu and you should only venture there if you
are a skilled IT professional.

Simple setup
Turn on the 2.4 and 5 GHz radios and set the
SSIDs (could be the same)
Set the encryp;on method to DISABLED to get
the highest number of clients served as
possible
Set the 5 GHz bandwidth to 20 MHz
See the next screens for examples
Dont forget to UPDATE SETTINGS

Login window

2.4 GHz sefng

5 GHz channel width

5 GHz radio

Update a[er downloading updates

Sefng up the AP
If it is not the rst ;me someone set up this AP you may
need to reset the AP with a paper clip. See the Ruckus
instruc;ons. The default IP address is 192.168.0.1
Set up a stand-alone computer with a xed IP address, e.g.,
IP 192.168.0.100,
mask 255.255.255.0,
router 192.168.0.1.

Open your browser on the notebook computer and type

h2ps://192.168.0.1
Log in
User: super
Password: sp-admin

AP setup challenges
Depending on what browser you are using, it will
check the cer;cates on the Ruckus AP. If you
are edi;ng more than one AP with the same
laptop, you may nd that the laptop refuses to
connect to the second AP because it no;ces that
the cer;cate has changed for the same IP
address.
Safari is par;cularly problema;c here. Use
Firefox on the Mac instead. You will have to tell
Firefox that you know what you are doing and
that it should connect.

Deep setup using ssh and the

Command Line Interface
Open a terminal on your connected laptop and
ssh super@192.168.0.1
login: super
password: sp-admin
rkscli: set band-steering wlan0 5
rkscli: set bss-minrate wlan0 12000
rkscli: set channely wlan0 mtbc 420

Where rkscli is the prompt and wlan0 is the

device name.
See next page for that these incanta;ons mean
Ruckus has a command line interface (CLI) guide
they can send you

Meaning of Command Line Interface

code
Band steering

This encourages 5 GHz capable phones to use the 5 GHz band, which is
generally less crowded but not as good at going through walls. [this
command is not on the R600]

bss min-rate

Sets the minimum data rate in kbps at which an AP will associate with
a client. Dont want this to be too low for good quality streaming. Set
to 12 Mbps.

Channel Fly

Channel Fly is the AP feature where they switch channel frequencies in

search of a be`er signal/noise ra;o. But switching too o[en is dicult
for Android phones, which may not follow the hops, and can also be
some;mes heard in the audio. This number tells how many minutes
to which to limit the switching ;me. Set minimum to about 7 hours.
Alterna;vely you can let Channel Fly do its work for a while and then
turn it o.

Gefng around host checking

If you want to ssh into dierent APs from the same laptop, you may
have to set the laptop congura;on le to not do strict host
checking. This is very dangerous.
Or you can add each new Ruckus to the knownhosts list. For the
rst, edit (or create) the le
~/.ssh/cong
and add the line
StrictHostKeyChecking no
and save. And be careful!

Ruckus AP Standalone Congura;on

for isolated subnets

A Separate Router is Usually Best

Ruckus APs - NOT routers by default
BUT can be routers + DHCP servers in standalone
mode

Ruckus APs are bridges

You need to be familiar with basic IP networking

A bridge (or a switch) operates at network layer 2

Ruckus APs are bridges by default
Everything connected to a bridge/switch must be on the same
IP subnet to communicate
IP (Internet Protocol) operates at network Layer 3

Routers route trac between subnets

The Internet will be on the uplink or WAN side

The Venue network will be on the downlink or LAN side

Routers may oer NAT (Network Address transla;on)

NAT hides the LAN IP addresses behind the router WAN IP

Venue Router behavior (typical)

Routers have mul;ple IP addresses

The venue router will get an IP address by DHCP from the

ISP on its WAN (uplink) port
The venue router will have a dierent IP address on the
venue network

The venue router will hand out DHCP addresses to the

venue devices on LAN port(s)
The venue router will NAT internal addresses on the
Internet
Internet trac would only see the WAN/external IP; the
router will keep track of which internal IP(s) gets reply
trac

Ruckus AP in standalone mode

No Zone Director on the network

Or ZD can be congured to NOT automa;cally accept all APs

AP in factory default state

Fresh out of box or factory reset

Default AP sefngs are

IP address: 192.168.0.1
Username: super
Password: sp-admin
NB all this is on the underside label

DO NOT plug the AP into the uplink before conguring it

or it will get a dierent address from the ISP DHCP server

Standalone AP
o Configuration
o Menu items
show AP is in
standalone
mode

Congura;on -> Internet

o You should not have to
change anything here
o Wired ports are WAN ports
o 7372 and 7982 both
have two ports
o Both ports default as
WAN ports
o One can be converted
to a LAN port
(And probably should be;
see following slides)
R300 has one port. Will need to convert to LAN
Once fully configured, you could check the ISP assigned address here, by clicking
static IP and then returning to DHCP

Congura;on -> Local Subnets

o Click on Local Subnet
o Choose Enabled
o Example Settings:
o Local IP: 192.168.40.1
(routers internal IP)
o Subnet mask:
255.255.255.0
o DHCP: enabled
o Starting address:
192.168.40.2
o Maximum users: 250
o Access VLAN: 10

Rou;ng port assignments

There are now two subnets on the AP

WAN/Internet address to be assigned by DHCP

LAN/local - addresses congured by you
Local Subnet 1
In our example, 192.168.40.1
DHCP server enabled on that subnet

Now the subnets must be assigned to ports

The default sefng is EVERY port is on the Internet

subnet (bridge mode)
WLANs (SSIDs) are logical ports
In other words, we have to tell the ports which side of
the router they are on in or out? WAN or LAN?

Congura;on -> Ethernet ports

o One port can be a LAN port:

o change packet forward to Local Subnet NAT and Route to WAN
o For Local Subnet change to Local Subnet 1
o Do this last since it will change the IP address

Congura;on -> Ethernet ports, cont.

Both the 7982 and the 7372, have two Ethernet ports
One 10/100
One 10/100/1000 PoE
The R300 has one Ethernet port

You probably do not have a gigabit Internet link

Choose the10/100 port to serve as the bridge to WAN or

Internet link

If you change the port you are plugged into, you will
lose connec;on
Thats OK you will need to change IP to match local
subnet 1 and reconnect

You could get more elaborate about subnet assignments and use all 4 local subnets. Only
do this if you understand what you are doing and have a good reason to do so

Congura;on -> WLAN ports

o Configure WLANs as
before, with additions
o Packet Forward choose:
o local Subnet NAT and
Route To WAN
o Local Subnet choose:
o Local Subnet 1
o Repeat for all WLANs/
SSIDs

You now have a Ruckus router AP

You have a LAN port for any wired devices LG
If you have more than one, you will also need a
switch

Your SSIDs are on the LAN side of the router

The AP will assign DHCP addresses on the LAN
The AP will NAT all addresses on the Internet
The LAN port goes to the Venue Server